GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

RULE OF CARDS

He left the girl who was speechless after that scene. Denton went up the second deck of the last bed of the room and ate the food there. It was the bed he woke up on. While he was munching his food, his gaze went to the top he is wearing right now. It was a gray vest that has a lot of decorations on it. “What is this?” he asked himself. There are a total of eight hearts located at the right chest part of the vest. While looking at the pajama he is wearing, he noticed a black pocket on his right side and opened it. “A card?”

Denton looked at the card he got on his pocket. It was as big as a poker card but has a different style. The usual card is plain background on the back; whilst the card he got from his pocket has the logo of the WIC Company he once saw on the assembly before they were lured to do the game. There is also a fancy design for the phrase ‘Rule of Cards’ in the middle of the back of the card. On the front, the card showed was labeled as the multiplication card with the multiplication sign in the middle of the card.

“So, you have just noticed it now too, right?” the woman who defended him minutes ago muttered while standing beside the double deck Denton is sitting on right now. The woman showed her card. It was like a normal ten of hearts card. “You have something that is not really common in poker while I have something that is included in the game poker. I know it’s too early to assume anything but isn’t it weird that you have that kind of card? Having something not too ordinary can either make you worry or relaxed. After all, we do not know what the rule is in this game, so we really should not assume something yet. It just really bothers me how we can make use of this card in the game.”

“Like what you have said, we should not assume anything for we do not know what the rule and direction of the game is yet. Perhaps, the game is called ‘Rule of Cards’ because it might be something connected to all this cards that we have.” The woman just nodded her head slowly. Denton can feel that the woman is worrying for having a card that has nothing special on it. “Who knows, that card might be more helpful than the card that I have? Otherwise, this is a game. I know, we all need the prize money but having fun during the game will not hurt; I think?”

After that talk, the lady went back to her bed, easing the worry that she has. The moment Denton was about to come down from his bed, the while light that surrounds them changed color into green. It worried them. The next thing they knew is that the speaker began to sound again with the speaker talking. “The players will now go to the battlegrounds for the round one.” The door opened and there greeted the armed guards who guided them towards the battlegrounds that the speaker told. Since the speakers are all around the whole area, the players could still hear what the speaker is talking about. “The WIC Company hopes that you had a great lunch. We advise our players to enjoy the game. Welcome to the Rule of Cards…” and all that the speaker said was just a repeated statement.

They were greeted by a fine forest filled with green, leafy trees and healthy grasses. Denton was surprised to see hundreds of people, wearing the same gray vest like him, covering the quarter of the place. He has lost awareness that he never noticed that he has been being given a glasses to use on the game. After getting the glasses, he stood up behind the other players and silenced himself while observing things.

While everyone is waiting for the announcement, the guards left the area and shut the door close which alarmed the players. Denton was worrying at that time too, but he was neglecting it, as he is more willing to wait for the instructions than he is willing to worry. “Greetings, players!” the speaker once more talked. This time, the speaker is being seen on the wide television, still, having the distorted voice and face. “Welcome to the Rule of Cards, where there is only one rule; to survive. One must survive the eight games to be hailed as the winner.”

Denton’s eyebrows furrowed upon hearing that. “Eight games?” he asked himself before wandering his gaze to the people murmuring from here to there, looking around the area. “Well, I guess it will be hard to identify the winner in just one game so it is kind of understandable. However, is it really necessary to have that many games?”

“I will explain the main criterion for this game,” the distorted-faced man muttered, getting the attention of the total of five hundred plus players. “Rule of Cards is basically a survival game that has only one winner. Everyone who passes the round one will obviously continue on the second round and the cycle continues.” Denton saw people nodding their heads while looking at the monitor. “What happens when one player fails the round? He will be eliminated. What will happen if no one survived until the last round of the game? Then, there will be no winner and the prize money will not be contributed. What will happen to eliminated players? Play the game to know it.”

Denton’s brows furrowed. “Why can’t they just answer to that question?”

“How much is the total prize money? The prize money adds up to twenty-million dollars. Is there a chance to have multiple winners? There can only be one winner. Can a player give up in the middle of the game? This will be tackled later.” The speaker sounds so cold while talking about all the criterion that it creeps the players secretly. “Take a look at the vests that you all are wearing. You can see eight hearts on the left side of the chest part. Every heart corresponds to a round. Once you completed a round, the heart will light up green; once you failed the round, the heart will light up red. On your pants, there is a pocket armed with a zipper. Inside there is a card. Each card is useful. Players can use the card while in the middle of the game or as instructed. Once a player is eliminated, that player can either give his/her card to someone trusted by her or can be snatched by the other players.”

A player raised his hand. “You said that there is only one rule, which is ‘to survive’. If you say so, then is cheating, snatching or anything illegal in the real world allowed in this game?” That statement was followed by a group of men laughing.

“There will be eight rounds for Rule of Cards. No one will know in advance what the games will be; a surprise to everyone. In every round, there is the main match and the escaping match. At the end of the round, players will be asked if they will want to join the escaping match. The escaping match will be instructed during the actual match.” It seems that the speaker just says what he wants to say. “To survive; that is the only rule that matters in this game. Regarding this matter; cheating, snatching or anything illegal outside the scope is legal in here. As long as the actions are not against the WIC Company, we would take it as a consideration.” There was a mix of complains and shouts from the players on the ground. The ground was suddenly noisy, not after the speaker talked again. “If everything is already cleared, then let’s start the first round of the game.”

“The gate is opening,” one lady beside Denton muttered that got his attention. They both looked at the gate from their back and saw people entering. “Who are those three people? Why are they suddenly entering? Why are they dressed up like that…?”

“The round one, main match, is called Hide-and-Seek.” Denton looked at the three armed guy who stopped walking after reaching the center of the area. The guys are armed with a rifle, has their faces covered with the masks usually used by hold-uppers, and is wearing something unobtrusive but they can attract people’s gazes with just their aura. “Has anyone of you played this game? I am guessing that every player has played this game even once on their childhood. However, this is not just the typical hide-and-seek that some of you have already played. In this game, players are urged to find a place where they cannot be seen by the killers. They will be given thirty seconds to hide and will prevent the killers from seeing them. Every member that will be found by the killer will be eliminated by them and all the players who the killer was unable to find will continue on the second round. Use your glasses to see the boundaries of the area. If a player trespasses one boundary of the area, something worse might happen to him/her. The killers will be given ten minutes to eliminate the unhidden players. Once that time ended, the game will conclude.”

“What’s this? Are you forcing us to play kids’ game?” that one guy who asked just minutes ago muttered. This time, he is not kidding. He’s upset after hearing what the game is about. “We are frigging adults with lots of pubic hairs already. Why should we play the kids’ game you told us to play?” He looks like he’s the best candidate for people that can empathize with, as he got most of the player’s agreement again.

“Useful Card: Once the player shows his/her invisibility card to the killer, s/he will not be killed. The invisibility card will only be useful for one usage each.” While the speaker is uttering words, the screen showed a picture of the card with nothing written on it. That is the invisibility card that might be useful for the first round. “I believe that I already have explained everything. We will now initiate the first round of the game. Let the game begin.

The screen showed up a timer of ten seconds. Since all the players are all new to this game, everyone was motionless and stuck to their place. The timer has gone down to the last five seconds and Denton saw the killers in front of them raise their rifles, as if getting ready to fire bullets. The timer is slowly killing its time and as the timer went zero, a static sound surrounded the whole area. The screen showed a different timer that has ten minutes, labeled as the ‘seeking time’. The killers waited for another five seconds before starting to fire bullets to players that they can see not hiding.

That’s it. The game has already begun.